Monday 10/20 is the third night of the Polyorchard October residency at Neptunes Parlour. This night will feature a large ensemble formation of Polyorchard with a focus on winds and brass. Performers include Jeb Bishop, Laurent Estoppey, David Jordan, Jamie Keesecker, Bill McConaghy, David Menestres, David Morris, Bob Pence, Chris Robinson, Carrie Shull. The program will include variations on Eva-Maria Houben’s von da nach da and a new tune of mine called More Birds in Rhyme (aka stupid bird songs).

Dan Ruccia is spearheading a new monthly improv series at The Carrack in Durham. This month, the happiness occurs on 9/16 after which the madness will take place on the second Tuesday of the month.

From Dan:

The first in a continuing series of freely improvised music on Tuesdays at The Carrack Modern Art, curated by Dan Ruccia. This month’s show will include Dan Ruccia (viola), Jeb Bishop (trombone), Chris Eubank (cello), Jamie Keesecker (horn), David Menestres (bass), Chris Robinson (bari sax), and Carrie Shull. Free admission!

“There’s more of us than you,” announced bassist David Menestres. His band began to play.

Performances by the improvisation collective Polyorchard typically have a bit more balance between audience members and musicians; at any of their Nightlight shows during the past year, there’ve been maybe four musicians on stage and at least five observers. But just before Christmas, only a handful of Nightlight denizens watched an ensemble of Justice League proportions share the space. There were seven players—or , as trombonist Jeb Bishop said, a “Polyorchardstra.”

Each Polyorchard performance is wholly distinct, forged in real time. At Nightlight, the musicians had no scores to play from or any pre-formed ideas. They interacted with each other on stage, listening closely to a quizzical variety of noises and forming them into dense webs. The 30-minute set began with a series of intimate rustles, emerging from Menestres’ bass and Dan Ruccia’s viola. Chris Eubank soon joined on cello (that string trio is one of the better iterations of Polyorchard I’ve heard in the past). From there, the sounds expanded outwards: Bishop’s softly growling trombone, Sara Bloo’s vocal murmurs, Jamie Keesecker’s trembling French horn, Jason Bivins’ hushed guitar. Each instrumentalist delved into extremes of technique.
With seven musicians coming toward you, one’s ear becomes drawn to individual sounds and how they mesh together in micro-interactions. The bluesy tone of the trombone can become the counterpart to a chiaroscuro viola melody.
The atmosphere would suddenly switch moods, too. At one point, a steady guitar/bass pulse emerged, with Bloo cooing in intense rhythm, echoing the ululations of Meredith Monk. And then, pure noise: Menestres squeaked on the back of his bass, and Bivins mashed into his guitar strings on his lap, while Bloo moved water around in jars. At one point, half a chopstick flew towards me, having broken out of Menestres’s hands as he hit it fiercely against his strings. The result of seven expert improvisers became greater than its parts.